Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Aid He He A A Gent
























Well I'm not exactly feeling inspired to post, but the truth of the matter is that I'm tired of seeing that onion, though I must admit it is a rather perfect onion, staring back at me everytime I open my blog. Not that I think I want to look at the above picture for long --it is a just clue for those of you who struggled with Aid He He A A Gent.

I must say I was a little disappointed that Pops didn't chime in -- so much for my sure fire method to milk a comment.

TTFN

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Don't Get Mad, Kevin?

Ando's guess for Dawn Kim Add, Kitty Fin was just too funny not work in somewhere, so I got it out of the way in the title.

I have a new mad gab for you, courtesy of the Curves bulletin board today: Aid He He A A Gent

It took me about half way around the exercise circle to figure this one out. When I turned in my answer for a chance at the monthly drawing, I found out I was the only correct guess so far. But don't worry, I won't let it go to my head.

The main thrust of my post today has nothing to do with mad gabs -- I just included that so I can have a good change of getting a comment out of pops -- and it especially has nothing to do with Kevin. It's all about onions & conspiracy theories (and you thought Kludge was out there with the sticky buns!)

I was in Safeway today picking up a few groceries and decided to get a couple of onions. I wasn't happy with the per/pound price, so turned to the display of bagged onions hoping for a break. Sure enough one sign advertised 5 lbs of yellow onions for $2.99 so I grabbed a bag, thinking at the time that 5 lbs sure didn't look like 5 lbs. I then checked the tag attached to the bag and found that it was only 3 lbs. I returned it to the bin and searched in vain for a 5 lb bag. That was when I noticed a larger sign advertising the 3 lb bag of white onions 10/$10, or $1 a piece. It also showed this was a good savings as the regular price was $2.99. I love a good deal so grabbed the bag of white onions, though I honestly prefer yellow. (The reason I am including such detail is it is very important for you to understand that I studied these sale signs rather carefully.)

Upon leaving the store after checking out, I was reading over my receipt and was disappointed to find that I had been charged $2.99 for the onions, rather than the advertised $1.00. (And yes, I did remember to use my Safeway club card.) This presented a dilemma because I hated to head back in the store for a mere $2 difference, and yet, I had been trying to be so careful with the $$$ I felt like I just couldn't enjoy those white onions unless I got the sale price.

So I politely waited for the cashier to finish with her customer and pointed out the discrepancy. She paged produce and I waited. Finally produce called back and confirmed that the onions were not on sale but were correctly charged $2.99. I politely protested saying the sign clearly stated they were $1, all the time feeling really cheap and petty. She told produce about the sign and then told me the produce guy was checking on the sign. I waited for a while longer until the produce guy finally called back saying there was no sign. Suddenly, this became bigger than onions.

Still polite, I told the cashier, "I saw the sign. I need to go back and check for myself." I wheeled my cart around and quickly headed to produce, a woman on a mission. Other shoppers seemed to read my urgency and hastily made way for my cart. When I got to the onion bin, there was NO sign. I stared for a minute at the empty space where that sign had been, the sign I had studied in making a rather lengthy onion decision. It was just a big empty space now. I couldn't believe it.

My mind was reeling as I returned to the cashier and told her, "He was right. There was no sign. But there was one earlier. I no longer want the onions."

She gave me my $3 back (I gained a penny in the deal!). My mind was still racing -- I know I'm forgetful, but I know without a doubt that sign had been there minutes earlier. I told my cashier, "I'm really not neurotic." She answered, rather condescendingly, "Oh I know. Sometimes I see things that aren't there also."

Excuse me??? I wanted to protest and say, "But it was there! This is a conspiracy! I have no idea why you would be interested in cheating me out of the $2, but someone removed that sign!!" But I didn't. I just smiled and left.
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The primaries are coming up soon. Before I cast my vote for a candidate, I want to know what they plan on doing about stores that change signs to gauge onion buying customers, that's what I want to know! I'm not neurotic -- no sir!

Monday, January 14, 2008

Dawn Kim Add, Kitty Fin

Two things:

1. Well the holidays were very good to Scott and I -- they gave each of us more to love in the other. Translation: We both gained weight. So, last week, I dusted off my tennies and headed to Curves. My title today came from the "Mad Gab" that was posted on the Curves bulletin board for us ladies to solve as we exercised. I thought this riddle was much better than the lame "Detroit Tigers" one -- of course the fact that I was able to solve it did not influence me at all! (Ha!) So have fun with it and let me know your best guess.

2. This photo is a picture of our front porch New Year's day. Someone evidently was sorry we missed their party and brought the decorations to us in the night, along with several rolls of toilet paper and silly string scattered across our yard.

Saturday night, not even two weeks later, we were gifted with more decorations. This time it included chalk art on the driveway, and fresh streamers to adorn the trees which had looked so empty after the storms in early January had disinigrated the tissue remains from previous visits.

3. What do #1 & #2 have to do with each other? Not a thing. Or do they?

Friday, January 11, 2008

Still Bitter
























Back on January 1, I confessed I was a little bitter about getting stuck with the mad gab, DEED ROY DIE GUESS. In my opinion, it was unsolvable. Well, I'm still a little bitter. This time it's because my husband figured it out and left the answer in my comments.
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It was all very fun and I was getting a kick out of him seriously trying to figure it out. Its always especially delightful when you know something your husband does not.
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He kept guessing and I'd say, "Leave your answer in the comments." He even tried googling DEED ROY DIE GUESS -- guess what, he found my blog! (Good to know if I ever lose the link!)
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I was getting a little smug and then after about an hour of trying to figure it out, he stumbled upon the answer just by saying it over and over to himself. Now my demand to leave it in the comments completely backfired!
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Would anyone else have gotten it correct if he had not have finally figured it out? Oh well, I guess it's time to move on and let it go. Sigh.
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BTW, if you haven't already guess, DEED ROY DIE GUESS is Detroit Tigers. Ridiculous!

Monday, January 07, 2008

DEED ROY DIE GUESS Part II

Well no one has guessed the mad gab yet -- which confirms my theory that this was a really hard one and our team was justified in having no clue!! I just had to laugh at Pop's guess, "Reader's Digest" because that was exactly what we kept guessing. Except each person on our team would shout it out at different times, apparently not having heard that it had already been nixed. It became one of the jokes of the night and pretty soon whenever someone had no clue, no matter what the mad gab looked like, they would holler, "Reader's Digest!"



Keep guessing...I want to see if it's capable of being solved. If no one has nailed it by January 11th, I will reveal the correct answer then.

























BTW, remember that picture of my really messy house covered with supplies for making boards for the San Diego tournament right after New Years? Well we returned from the tournament last night and all the blood, sweat, and tears paid off. For the second time, both girls made it to the finals in the expository speech category. My little sweetie, Michelle, who was still memorizing her speech on the way to the tournament placed 7th out of 54 speakers with a speech on pigeons! Catie, who spoke on pet rats, won 1st place and a slot to Nationals in June. Amazing!
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P.S. A couple of Catie's judges shared they are now considering getting pet rats!
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P.P.S. Maybe next year they can do a speech on Mad Gabs and see if anyone can guess DEED ROY DIE GUESS.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

DEED ROY DIE GUESS

Happy New Year! We were playing "Mad Gab" last night as part of the yearly ritual of staying awake until some sphere-shaped object back east falls down. If you are unfamiliar with this game, checkout the helpful description below courtesy Wikkipedia.

Mad Gab is a game created by Mattel in which there are at least two teams and 2 to 12 players. Each team has two minutes to sound out three puzzles. The puzzles, also known as mondegreens, contain small words that, when put together, make a word or phrase. For example, "These If Hill Wore" when pronounced quickly sounds like "The Civil War." There are 2 difficulties: easy and hard. The faster the puzzles are answered, the more points the players score.


There were a few turns when we were unable to guess a phrase in the alloted time -- after we were told what it was supposed to be, most of the time we were able to say, "Ah, of course, it's all so clear now." However, the one in the title has left me a little bitter.

Care to guess what it's supposed to be?
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I will reveal the answer next time I blog.
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P.S. Had to include a picture of my adorable little grand-neice who made her appearance into the world the day after Christmas. If you want to see more pictures check out her mommy's blog -- http://pmcamp.blogspot.com/ -- Megan has been very good about updating.
I'm wishing Taeya Brynn did not live so far away!